School Leader Digital Learning Guide

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What can this guide do for you?

Digital learning is defined as “any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience and encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practices.” 1

This “School Leader Digital Learning Guide” is a resource to help you consider, plan, fund, implement, maintain, and adapt learning programs that meet the unique needs and requirements of the students and teachers that you serve. The guide is focused on digital learning principles and practices that enable and empower students and teachers of all abilities and zip codes, advance student agency (i.e., initiative, intention, and responsibility in pursuing their education), support personalized learning, promote mastery of skills and competencies, and ensure privacy protection.

This guide is designed to provide resources and recommendations to help leaders in various circumstances, including:

• Leaders with students and teachers experiencing digital learning in school facilities or remotely;
• Leaders for whom digital learning presents transformative or incremental change for their students;
• Leaders of a school, a school system, or an education provider supporting digital learning;
• Leaders whose organization is funded by municipal taxpayers, non-profit institutions, individuals, or is supplemented by federal monies and programs.

Each section contains key considerations, questions to ask yourself as a leader, and resources to help with your thinking and planning. References to technical and professional methods and resources are provided for you to consider and apply as appropriate in leading your organization’s efforts to meet the needs of your students and teachers.

This “School Leader Digital Learning Guide” is part of a series of guides, including the “Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide” and “Teacher Digital Learning Guide,” intended to support parents and families, teachers, and education leaders in leveraging digital tools and resources for teaching and learning.

Other than statutory and regulatory requirements included in the document, the contents of this guidance do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. [OET-FY21-03]

INTRODUCTION

THE NEED FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP

As you continue your work to build and foster environments where digital learning is useful, available, and safe for students and teachers, you and your stakeholders face the inherent challenges of every technology-enabled endeavor: Technology is only as good as it is used in practice by people. Your leadership matters when it comes to the results and return on investment your organization can achieve with educational technology (EdTech). Without your effective leadership to envision, plan, and deliver an environment where EdTech can be accessed and used well by students and teachers, there are real risks for technology being underused, misused, incompatible, or obsolete.

THE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITY

With an unprecedented number of students and teachers experiencing remote digital learning due to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) related school closures and limited openings, the opportunities—and need—for engagement, innovation, and solutions to challenges inherent in a remote digital learning environment have never been greater.

For many students and teachers, the long-conceived promise of “anytime, anywhere” learning has met the immediate challenges of limited access and limited capacity. Parents and teachers alike have seen their homes become places that have to provide and, for many, competitively manage resources such as access to space, bandwidth, and devices needed to support effective digital teaching and learning.

With your leadership, it is possible to maximize the benefits of digital learning for the students you serve now and in the future. Effective use of technology can address the impact of any learning losses experienced by students in the current environment and mitigate the prospect of future learning losses. As a leader, you can learn from, develop, assess, plan, resource, and govern the use of technology by your students and teachers. You can embrace what has worked, adjust what has not, and work with students and teachers to chart the path forward.

This section in 30 seconds

Implementing and assessing digital learning is a challenge at any time—and the current learning environment has greatly increased the stakes. Provided below is a roadmap for leaders in schools and school systems that encourages developing a shared vision and goals, and prioritizing teacher professional development to meet the needs of your students and to support parents and families.

Embrace Digital Learning Leadership

When used in meaningful ways, digital technologies can empower students to become drivers of their own learning, deeper thinkers, and stronger collaborators. For digital learning to be successful at an organizational level, you should consider developing a shared vision and goals. Planning resources, including considerations for developing a leadership team, conducting a needs assessment, collecting feedback from key stakeholders, and budgeting for digital learning, are provided in Appendix A.

1. DEVELOP A SHARED VISION AND GOALS

Key Considerations

It is important for your digital learning leadership team (see Appendix A: “Form a Digital Learning Leadership Team”) to establish a set of straightforward, attainable goals. These goals should be rooted in sound learning principles and developed iteratively based on your school system or school objectives, data, and the needs of your community (see Appendix A: “Conduct a Needs Assessment”). These goals can be shared publicly for feedback from key stakeholders, and they should inform investments in digital tools, supporting digital infrastructure, training, and resources.

In concert with establishing, and periodically revisiting, the shared vision and goals, there are several key areas on which to focus. Consider, for example, how digital learning can strengthen students’ learning experiences, empower and engage students and teachers, and promote mastery and critical thinking and personalized learning. Also consider the access from school and from home that teachers and students have for digital teaching, learning, and assessment.

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Assess, Build, and Maintain Infrastructure

In order to leverage technology to meet your teaching and learning goals, it is crucial that your school system, school, and community have a robust infrastructure for digital learning. The infrastructure includes learning devices and high-speed internet access for students and teachers. It also includes the digital tools and resources for learning. A robust learning infrastructure also ensures that students remain safe online, by complying with key data privacy and security regulations and teaching digital citizenship (refer to the Promote Digital Citizenship section below).

One way to approach building and maintaining infrastructure for digital learning is to consider how you will manage the lifecycle of EdTech investments. Managing the EdTech lifecycle includes assessing the needs of your school or school system, procuring and deploying technology, measuring the efficacy of new EdTech investments, and determining when to renew or replace software licenses.

There are many tools and frameworks to assist with lifecycle management, some of which are included in the resources section below. Your school or school system should explore, evaluate, and use the tools and processes that best meet your unique learning goals, needs, and requirements. Additional factors may include the size of your student population, the structure of your central office, school leadership, and decision-making responsibilities, and the amount and types of funding available.

Refer to the “Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide” Enabling Digital Learning section and “Teacher Digital Learning Guide” Access, Safety, and Privacy section for support in partnering with parents and teachers on critical digital learning infrastructure considerations.

1. EVALUATE AND MANAGE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

Key Considerations

As part of EdTech lifecycle management, it is important to audit your existing digital tools and resources to determine if they are empowering students and teachers while meeting your teaching and learning goals. Quality, accessibility, and privacy are primary considerations regardless of the amount of technology changes that are implemented.

Analysis of K-12 district spending indicates that approximately 67 percent of all educational software product licenses go unused—translating to millions of wasted dollars. 3 You can support teachers and focus on the return on investment on EdTech purchases in your school or school system by thoroughly vetting digital tools, using the following evidence-based approaches:

• Rapid Cycle Tech Evaluations (RCE) are designed to assist school leaders in making evidence-based decisions regarding EdTech acquisitions.4 They are low-cost, quick turnaround evaluations that align with the rapid pace of innovation in technology development.
• Product Certifications can serve as a helpful signal for school leaders, teachers, and families that EdTech products are based in learning sciences research. To receive a certification, technology companies must show that their product meets a rigorous threshold of research standards. Examples of trusted, non-profit organizations that issue product certifications include: Common Sense Media Privacy Evaluations, ISTE seal of alignment, and Digital Promise Research-Based Design Certification.

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This section in 30 seconds

Implementing and assessing digital learning is a challenge at any time—and the current learning environment has greatly increased the stakes. Provided below is a roadmap for leaders in schools and school systems that encourages developing a shared vision and goals, and prioritizing teacher professional development to meet the needs of your students and to support parents and families.

Embrace Digital Learning Leadership

When used in meaningful ways, digital technologies can empower students to become drivers of their own learning, deeper thinkers, and stronger collaborators. For digital learning to be successful at an organizational level, you should consider developing a shared vision and goals. Planning resources, including considerations for developing a leadership team, conducting a needs assessment, collecting feedback from key stakeholders, and budgeting for digital learning, are provided in Appendix A.

1. DEVELOP A SHARED VISION AND GOALS

Key Considerations

It is important for your digital learning leadership team (see Appendix A: “Form a Digital Learning Leadership Team”) to establish a set of straightforward, attainable goals. These goals should be rooted in sound learning principles and developed iteratively based on your school system or school objectives, data, and the needs of your community (see Appendix A: “Conduct a Needs Assessment”). These goals can be shared publicly for feedback from key stakeholders, and they should inform investments in digital tools, supporting digital infrastructure, training, and resources.

In concert with establishing, and periodically revisiting, the shared vision and goals, there are several key areas on which to focus. Consider, for example, how digital learning can strengthen students’ learning experiences, empower and engage students and teachers, and promote mastery and critical thinking and personalized learning. Also consider the access from school and from home that teachers and students have for digital teaching, learning, and assessment.

Read More

See Less